Cover Up
by Dancerslife
Summary: On weekend in the Hamptons, Alexis recieves a few words of advice from Kate. But what for?


This idea was from a conversation I had with my friend Meg. 

Read and Review, please.

It's humorous and happy Castle Monday!

* * *

Kate padded down the stairs, the carpet warm against her feet. She loved the Hampton house, it was the perfect place for her to escape to when her and Rick would get into a fight, when she had a rough day at the Precinct or she just simply wanted to get away. The drive usually was calming enough, but the sounds of the crashing waves helped steady her thoughts. She heard a crash in the kitchen, covered by a small curse. Kate smirked as she rounded the corner, seeing Alexis getting herself a cup of coffee.

The girl was in a hoodie and a pair of running shorts, her hair down cascading over her shoulders. Kate raised an eyebrow before stepping into the room, her voice stopped at the sound of Castle bellowing to Alexis, pleasure in his eyes when he saw Kate.

"You're up," He said, stepping up to her, pulling Alexis' attention. The girls usual calm blue eyes were bright and alert. Castle wrapped an arm around Kate's waist and kissed her. "Hi."

"Hi," Kate laughed. She was a bit disappointed to find her boyfriend not in bed when she woke, but Alexis was on this health kick at college and ran every day and Castle was like a kid in a candy store the entire past month about seeing his daughter. "You coming down with something, Lex?"

Alexis spun around, the metal spoon clinking against the porcelain of the cup. "Uh no," Alexis supplied quickly. "I like wearing a sweater when I run. I sweat more and then loose more water weight."

"Uh-huh," Kate muttered, smiling at the girl who had gone back to her coffee. Rick slipped out of the kitchen quickly, returning shirtless with another shirt in his hand. Kate rolled her eyes and noticed how Alexis turned around, her eyes focused on the ground.

"So Alexis, you want to go swimming?" Castle questioned. "Or we can go to that new restaurant. You can wear that new dress?"

"I was just planning on staying in, watching a movie, maybe finishing up on some reading." Alexis shrugged, a flicker of pain in her eyes.

Castle nodded, before slipping the shirt on over his head and going to hug Alexis. He pressed his lips to the girl's forehead and pulled back, his eyes full of worry.

"You sure you're okay, pumpkin?" Castle questioned. "You feel a bit warm."

Kate bit back a remark and took a bite of the apple from the fruit dish on the island.

"Yeah, Dad," Alexis said, smiling up at him. "I'm fine."

Castle took hold of Kate's hand, wove his fingers through hers and pulled her off the stool that she had taken residence on. Kate took another glance at Alexis before she left and she watched as the girl's shoulders slumped considerably, relieved most likely that her father was out of the room.

* * *

The light knock on her door had Alexis reaching for the nearest thing to cover herself up. She spun around, her eyes wide as she watched the door open and there stood her father's girlfriend. Not the cop. Not the woman she had come to rely on, but the _girlfriend. _Kate had a tank top on, a pair of shorts and a smug smile that had Alexis wish she had a window big enough to crawl through.

"You know," Kate said, coming in and taking a spot on Alexis's bed, shoving the sweater that the girl wore to the side. "I usually like wearing a sweater running if it was near zero not eighty."

"I told you. It's for the water weight. The more heat buildup the more sweat is produced." Alexis snapped smartly. "I didn't give you permission to come in either."

It was a step over the line because the moment that came out of her mouth she watched as Kate squared her shoulders back. Kate was no longer the girlfriend, but the cop.

_Shit._

"Are you doing drugs, Alexis?" Kate questioned. The girl shook her head. "Doing anything illegal?" Again. A shake of the head. "Then why are you coming in at three in the morning, limping through the house, and hiding your neck?"

Alexis swallowed, that bright eyed scared look back. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"Alexis," Kate growled, standing off the bed. Alexis bit her lip and slowly dropped her hand, watching as Kate's eyes grew wide and then a smile playing at her lips. "Oh."

A line of bruises went up Alexis's neck and as Kate turned the girl partially to the side, the bruises began up from her shoulder. That explained the light bruise on the inside of her wrist. Kate tilted her head and cupped the girls cheek.

"Please don't tell my Dad, _please,_" Alexis begged, her voice small and childlike. "God Kate, please-"

"Alexis," Kate said calmly and cooly. She drew her thumb against the girls bottom lip, watching as the girl winced in the light grip. "That hurt?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. Kate-"

"This your first time?" Kate questioned. The girl nodded her head quickly and by the knowing glare that Kate produced, Alexis began to shake her head slowly. "That's what I thought."

"My Dad is going to have a heart attack when he sees these," Alexis said, dropping down onto the bed. "I leave home and go to college and everything just changed. I got drunk. I've had sex. And now I'm explaining this to my Dad's girlfriend who is a cop who could arrest me."

"Let's just leave it with the girlfriend, huh?" Kate said, watching as Alexis gave her an appreciative smile. "Do I have to give you the 'talk'?"

"There's nothing stopping you."

"You need anything, night or day, you call me, Alexis," Kate said. "You've got a boyfriend who starts treating you anyway that makes you uncomfortable, having a cop for a step-mother can be pretty useful."

"You're not married though," Alexis defended.

"He doesn't have to know that," Kate winked. She was off the bed. "Come on. Throw on something that won't have you looking like a tomato and we'll go buy some new clothes."

"Really?" Kate nodded. "I'll be in the room."

"Okay," Alexis said smiling from her seat.

"Oh and Alexis?" Kate called from her spot at the door. "You know that scar your Dad has that he refuses to talk about? That was because I had to wear long sleeved shirts for nearly three months because of a bruise I had. Battle wounds just remind us how much fun we had."

Alexis smiled, bit her lip and nodded, watching as Kate left.

After dinner when Castle took Kate for a walk on the beach, Alexis came back to find a pink make-up bag, immediately noticing Kate's handwriting on the pink post-it.

_Use the cover-up for the neck. The lipstick for your lip. _


End file.
